Beginnings of Second Chances: Sayuri Kuchiki VS Alma
Chimes Another dull day in the Soul Society. Nothing was happening today. Not even Hikaru Kurosaki, the Captain of the 7th Division, was giving the Captain of 11th company any grief. There was simply nothing happening on this breezy day. However, if one would shut their trap and listen to the winds, they became aware that Sayuri Kuchiki, 4th seat of the 7th Division, was practicing her flute. The melodies swept over the Seireitei with a sense of calmness. The winds carried her beautiful melodies even beyond the walls of the Seireitei. Many in the Rukon district sat and listened to these pleasent melodies which rode the breeze. Back in the Seireitei, Sayuri sat upon a smooth rock near her barracks. She ended her melody, and looked at the skies. She smiled as a small wisp of a cloud dotted the clear blue sky. She then started another melody, closing her eyes once again. On another rock nearby, another girl also sat; listening to the melody. Brushing hair from her eyes, she revealed the face of Alma; a member of the Seijin Order whom was well aquainted with a Seijin Master, Verus. She continued to listen; being her usual quiet self. She smiled however at the sounds. Sayuri swiftly ended her melody, but it was with a masterful finish. She then looked over at the girl who sat near her. She examined her and then asked, "Do you know someone named Verus?" Alma looked over to Sayuri before speaking with her soft voice, "Sure... Why?" "My friend Nodoka told me that he fought someone named Verus when he was tending the Wolves. And also," Sayuri jumped over to where Alma sat and was within inches of her face. "His reitatsu is faintly present on your clothing." Alma was composed, "Alright, anything else?" Sayuri sniffed the air. Then she put her hand on her sword. "You smell like a hollow." At that Alma said nothing; instead she simply turned to look at the daylight lit sky. She then looked down at the palm of her hands before standing up and returning her gaze to the sun's outline. Sayuri smirked and took her hand away from her blade. "Not that it matters. One of my friends is a hollow. More specifically an Arrancar." She sat back at her rock. "Know a kid named Sora?" Alma shook her head in a definite form of no. Sayuri shrugged. "You'll know him when you see him. He's a really weird kid." She then asked, "So two more questions. Who are you and why are you here?" Alma was silent for a moment before saying, "My name is Alma, and I'm just here to relax..." Sayuri cocked her head to the side, "Why are you so depressed?" Alma looked at her with a smile; as quiet as ever, "Who said I was depressed? I'm just not a talker." Sayuri smiled, "Sorry. It's hard to tell the difference when you're around the Half-Pint Emo kid." At the wolf fields, Nodoka sneezed. Alma shrugged, "Do you need something?" Sayuri looked at the skies and asked, "You wanna spar?" Alma was silent for a moment before shrugging, "Sure, why not." "It's too cramped here. Let's go to the wolf fields. I'll lead you there." She then disappeared with a Shunpō. A song could be heard from the east of the barracks. Melody Breeze Alma walked; not bothering to mention that she knew where the wolf fields were. Eventually she came upon her destination; noticing Nodoka and Sayuri were there. Sayuri was rubbing her head and yelling at Nodoka about something. Nodoka was cleaning his ear with his pinky finger, not giving any mind to what Sayuri was yapping about. He then pointed to Alma's direction, and Sayuri Shunpōed to where Alma stood. She had a grin on her face and said, "Nodoka and John cleared out the Wolves so we can spar without interruption." She then bowed and said, "Let's have a good fight!" Alma rolled her eyes at the bow, "No point in being so formal... but good luck to you." Sayuri drew her sword and said, "Put Thy Enemies into a Trance, Kusafue." Her katana changed into a crimson staff, and the breezes around her began to sound like different notes. Alma drew her own blade; however she did not give out a release command. Instead she reached into her pocket and pulled out two earplugs; placing them inside her ears. As she did so she said simply, "I sometimes end up sleeping in rather loud areas..." The sound from the wind could no longer reach her ears. Alma did not end there however, charging in with her blade and striking with a vertical slash at Sayuri's torso. Sayuri smirked and jumped on top of Alma's blade. She then said, "Using earplugs was smart. But not smart enough." She then jumped off of the blade and pushed Alma to the ground with her palm. Alma instead grabbed Sayuri's wrist with her left hand; bringing it out of line while moving in to stab Sayuri's stomach beyond the shinigami's area of reach with her blade. She used the momentum of spinning her wrist that held Sayuri's own to get within this area; preventing the shinigami from blocking with her weapon in her right; a move that would seem familiar to Nodoka. Sayuri's staff immediatly blocked the attack without Sayuri moving it. The staff deflected the attack to the side and swatted Alma's left arm, releasing Sayuri. Alma didn't stop; suddenly a cero fired from out of nowhere; in an instantaneous firing that decimated the area in front of Sayuri. The attack was at the level that even a captain-leveled Shinigami would have trouble stopping the blast. The blast traveled directly at Sayuri; there was less than a second to dodge. Sayuri grabbed her staff from mid air and slashed it to the upper left. High gusts of wind created an invisible wall in front of Sayuri, disturbing the Cero, and shooting it off in another direction. Alma had used the time to get behind and fire off a Bala at Sayuri; the attack was fast enough that it managed to impact her back before she could react. As Sayuri went flying from the blast, Alma suddenly flashed away; with the distinct booming sound of a Sonido. She appeared right in the direction of Sayuri's flight; stabbing her blade at the shinigami as she tumbled through the air with her left hand. Sayuri held her staff in front of her and swung down at Alma's sword. She smirked and spat some blood out. "You're really good. Never fought someone like you before." Alma was still silent; knocking Sayuri's staff out of line and then, with her right hand in a sword charm, which was very familiar to Nodoka, she punched Sayuri in her solar plexus; knocking the wind out of her by causing her diaphragm to collapse and preventing her from breathing; which was neccassary thing in the heat of battle. Sayuri gasped for air, but couldn't find it. She then coughed and forced herself to look at Alma. She regained some air and quickly said, "Akazuno Kakyoku 4: Sonata no Fukkatsu." As she said this, mid range and low notes began to play through the air currents. Sayuri then back-flipped to a standing position. The scorch marks on her back were healing, and she could breathe easily again. She inhaled and sighed. "That was scary." She then readied herself for the next attack. Alma smiled for a moment before lifting up her hand; palm up as if holding some kind of sphere. Suddenly flames burst into life in her hand. The flame grew bigger, and then she launched it at Sayuri. The attack was fast and it moved as Sayuri moved, it seemed to home in on her. Sayuri put her hand toward the direction the fire blast was coming and said, "Hadō 31, Shakkahō!" A red blast larger than the fire blast shot out of Sayuri's hands. She then readied herself for the next attack. Alma appeared behind Sayuri once more as the smoke from the fire's cancelation cleared; this time however she sent piercing ice shards flying and eventaully embedding themselves into Sayuri's flesh. Alma then sent off an electric burst; unstoppably conducted towards the water the ice was composed of. The electricty caused Sayuri's muscles to seize up; she collapsed to the ground in pain, unable to move at all, but continuously twitching as she lay there. As she writhed there, Alma finished off by firing a Cero off at her; unable to move or think straight from the electric current, she was helpless to stopping the attack as it reached her. Sayuri could do nothing as the blast headed toward her. She then heard some kind of screech in her mind. She then felt as if she blacked out. She jolted up, and spun toward the blast and swatted it away with one hand. Her brow was covered by the top of what looked like a mask. She then looked over at Alma with a glare. The mask's growth seemed to accelerate as she stood. The Queen's Bodyguard Hollowification... thought Alma in her mind. Suddenly she had knocked over Sayuri and had her on her stomach. Near her face, she pulled out her blade and with a small thrust, punctured a hole in the mask; causing it to shatter and send the black that had entered Sayuri's eyes fading away... ...Which only returned with her face covered by a full mask. Sayuri kicked Alma away and said, "That really hurt. I don't like it when my queen is attacked like that. She is such a fragile girl. Someone like her shouldn't be thrust into the Gotei 13 because she is a Kuchiki. Nevertheless..." The Hollowfied Sayuri removed her mask to reveal the still glaring, but crying face. "I shall take over for my queen's weakness in battle." Alma looked at the hollowfied Sayuri with amusement, An inner hollow who actually cares... what a nice change of pace. Landing on her feet, Alma sheathed her blade and gathered up Seijō Reiryoku for a split second. Lifting her arm, Sayuri was lifted witha telekinesis by her throat. As Sayuri was choked by this, Alma sent more ice to embed themselves within her torso. After they hit, Alma sent Sayuri flying into the ground, head first, hard. As she hit a crater scarred the fields and a large portion of Sayuri's mask was broken off. Sayuri stood back up and brushed the dust off of her shoulders as if nothing happened. The broken parts of her mask regenerated as quickly as before. She rubbed her neck and said, "I told you, I don't like it when my queen is attacked." The ice on Sayuri melted quickly with a hiss. Sayuri looked over at Alma and said, "Judging by your power, you are at least as powerful as Assistant Captain Kurosaki, which by 7th Company's Captain's and Assistant Captain's standards," Sayuri laughed, "is a mild annoyance." Nodoka looked down at Sayuri and thought, Kinda wish Akodon was as loyal as Iruyas is. This Alma chick is a perfect match for Sayuri. I now realize that Assistant Captain Kurosaki should be the one to defeat Verus if it is necessary. And yet... Nodoka looked over at Alma. She is holding back. Sayuri may experience the same fate I did against Verus. Nodoka sighed and looked back at Sayuri. This will be most troublesome. Alma quietly looked down at the ground for a moment. As she did, the wind seemed to pick up, and the ground quaked. suddenly Alma's reiatsu exploded out in a vivid midnight blue. The tremors picked up as Alma's reiatsu suddenly jumped; up to a scale that Nodoka had only experienced with Verus; it was on at the very least, a captain's level. Alma said simply, "Holding back is going to get you killed." Alma suddenly used Sonido once again; this time however she appeared in front of Sayuri instead of behind and embedded a spear shaped ice crystal into her gut. The ice was loaded with electricty; it coursed through Sayuri's body and caused her to jolt around; opening the spear's wound even further. Alma pulled out the spear for a moment before impaling Sayuri again; this time letting go as the electricty caused her to drop to the ground. Sayuri coughed, causing her to spit up blood behind her mask. The top part was now shattered. Her left eye returned to normal, and she was wheezing heavily. She then said, "I'm sorry...my queen..." Sayuri then fainted, but she was caught by Nodoka. He looked down at her with a hint of live in his eyes. He then looked at Alma. "My turn." He used Shunpō to get Sayuri to the clifftops, then he came back with his sword drawn. "You cannot beat me. I'm not as nice as Sayuri." He drew his sword and readied to defend. Nodoka looked down and said, "No. I won't hold back. I'll fight you with all that I have." Nodoka held his blade in front of himself and muttered, "Bankai..." The Queen's Friend Alma closed her eyes as Nodoka's spirit energy jumped. At this rate I might have to... she shook her head to clear away the thought; it was for another time. Drawing her blade once more, she waited to see what awaited her. Three twelve-story trees surrounded Nodoka. He also held a strange staff that was a claymore on one end and a scythe on the other. The sword's blade was 49 inches in length and 6 inches in width, The staff was 26 inches from the sword blade to the scythe blade, which was 26 inches long. Nodoka's clothing changed to an ashen gray, and his left arm was covered with a green and gray armor. He then looked at the trees and spoke, "Reikoshi Itoyanagi...." Alma looked around at the trees, ...Unlike Verus I can't cause them all to explode over and over again... She grasped her blade firmly before recalling Verus' words, "When he summoned a twelve story tree he had to use power equal to 2 captains... his body is living reitatsu." Alma was unsure again, Maybe I should? No... not yet... let's see what it can do first. Alma quickly generated a fireball with her free hand; launching it at a tree once it reached a 5 ft. diameter. As it hit the wood quickly burned; the tree snapped in half due to the impact, but more worryingly, the fire began to spread down the the trunk and into the fields. Nodoka mused about the burning tree, then said, "Reverse, Haīrokawa." The fires and ash seemed to freeze, then reversed the burning. The tree grew back to its original status as if nothing happened. Nodoka looked over at Alma and shrugged. "Not even Verus can destroy these trees, even if his reitatsu is within the phloem and xylem of them." Alma seemed interested in this power, but she wasn't about to stop fighting either. Alma then remembered something from school; plants cannot bloom if they are frozen; they cannot thrive within such cold environments. To test her theory, Alma sent her reiatsu into the trees; not seeking to destroy, but to render useless. Her reiatsu was now holding a chilling quality; the water within froze; preventing the tree from growing and as intended, rendered it useless for sending out reiatsu. Nodoka then stabbed his sword in the ground, scythe edge up, and looked to the sky. He then said, "Shine, Kurotaiyō" The skies immediately turned pale white, and a black dot appeared in the skies. The trees turned an orange red, and a hissing sound could be heard. Nodoka sighed and said, "The gardener needs to toil to make his plants grow healthy and strong. Therefore, certain requirements are needed." Alma tried to think of a way that would render the trees fully obsolete. Then she remembered something an old friend from the world of the living had told her about plants, "To get rid of weeds you have to pulls the whole thing out; roots included." Grasping her Seijo Reiryoku, she grasped hold of all three trees; telekinetically lifting up along with their roots; coming from the ground. Turning them upside down so that the roots would never manage to try and replant themselves, she sent all three bashing all at once into Nodoka; with enough speed that the chances of being able to escape from the intersecting pathways was nearly impossible. Nodoka looked at all the trees as they stopped dead in there tracks. The roots of the trees then wrapped around Alma, threatening to crush her into dust. Strangely enough, the branches on the trees changed into roots and firmly planted themselves into the ground. Nodoka walked over to where Alma was suspended by the roots and said, "Don't you get it? There's no way you can destroy these trees. You are no Verus. Verus can easily defeat me, but his footsoldier is a mild annoyance in my eyes." He put the edge of his scythe on the back of Alma's neck. "Anything you'd like to say before I make the blood flow?" "Stop..." moaned a weak female voice. Nodoka turned around to see Sayuri standing and leaning on her staff. The hollow's presence was not shown in either of her eyes. She gasped for air for a moment, then straghtened herself. "Don't kill her. We only wanted to spar, not have a deathmatch." Nodoka stared at Sayuri for a long time. Then he looked back at Alma. He tightened his grip on his staff, but then loosened. He took the scythe blade away from Alma's neck and dropped his staff. At that moment, the roots around Alma disintigrated and the trees shed their leaves. The trees withered and burst into orbs of green light. The orbs divided themselves into three groups, then sped toward each fighter. Sayuri's wounds healed instantaneously, Nodoka's reitatsu spiked up, and Alma was healed of her wounds. Nodoka sighed and said, "Go for it Sayuri." The Queen's Power Alma turned around as she landed; she had felt a familiar source of power from behind her. On top of a hill that stood above the them, stood Verus; whom was looking at the 3 anatyically, before giving an amused look to Nodoka, "That was a good fight back then Nodoka, though you haven't reached your full potential yet and I didn't show mine either so we'll have to have another go some other time." Alma smiled at Verus' words, before turning back to Sayuri with her blade drawn. Verus then called from behind her, "Oh and Nodoka, I hate to make you sound like an arrogant ass, but Alma isn't my footsoldier... she's my comrade and equal. Don't think for a second that you had her back there; she hasn't revealed her hand yet." Alma was glad that she was good at keeping her face neutral, because she was sure otherwise she would have blushed a little at Verus' words. She then pointed her blade at Sayuri; in a clear gesture for to come. Sayuri held her blade in front of herself, but could not stop shaking. She felt as if a war were going on in her mind. Her head was throbbing erratically and her grip on her sword was loosening. She could not stop the headaches no matter what she tried. Her own inner hollow was trying to take over for the fight, but Sayuri would not allow it. Alma could sense all of this happening, and she was sympathetic to the situation; it felt similar to something that had taken a long time to bring under control... and even then she had needed help from someone. Glancing behind herself, Alma noticed Verus' calm expression, though she could tell that he too was worried; that this was bringing back unwanted memories. Verus shrugged in response to the question he had seen in Alma's face. He was telling her to do what she thought was right. ...Only if it gets out of hand. She turned back and stood her ground; waiting once more. Sayuri coughed, and a strange, amorphous substance came from her mouth and began to cover her face again. Sayuri's expression hardened and she ripped off the forming mask. She then looked at Alma as she readied her stance again. Her sword returned to its Shikai form, and Sayuri spoke, "I can't go on. I have to end this now." She held her staff diagonally. Nodoka recognized this, and sighed. Sayuri then swung her staff to cause the winds to whistle at high pitched sounds. She continued to do so, making each note stronger than the last. She then muttered, "Akazuno Kakyoku 1: Menuetto no Yōsei." Alma still had her ear plugs in; protecting her from the sounds, but it was still managing to slowly grasp hold of her. Death was calling her into the darkness of sleep. She wasn't about to die like that; not now, not ever. Alma closed her eyes and allowed her blade to vanish into the ground. Opening her eyes, they were revealed to have turned a light gray, which was slowly spreading across her body as her reiatsu jumped to heights Nodoka hadn't even seen with Verus. The former of which was staring quietly as Alma transformed; leaving her in a form reminiscent of a humanoid hollow without a mask standing resolutely; her reiatsu's power was pushing the sound waves away as it took shape and surged outward; plunging the sky around Alma midnight blue. As Alma rushed forward, Verus explained to the two other whom were present, "Alma isn't a shinigami to be frank." Alma suddenly reappeared in front of Sayuri; at speeds that caused her movements to register only with Verus. Her hands and feet had clawed, though her form was beautiful. With a powerful kick she launched Sayuri upwards; reappearing above her as she sailed up to pound her directly back into the ground below. As a dust cloud settled and Alma stayed hovering above, the music faded. Sayuri was flat on the ground not moving an inch. Immediatly, she vanished from where she lay, and was behind Alma. She then said, "And to finish..." She smirked and played a quick string of low, soothing notes. Immediatly, white ribbons covered Alma and her sword. They held her in such a pose where she was unable to struggle out of. "Akazuno Kakyoku 3: Indō no Rei." Alma knew she would need to slice her way out, as her reiatsu was slowly being drained, but she could also tell that Sayuri had reached her limit, and she wasn't gaining any reiatsu from her. Still, it wouldn't do to appear as if she needed to wait for her opponent to collapse to get herself out of such a situation. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to slip back into her normal form, before suddenly shrinking into a foot long peregrine falcon. With the ribbons now much looser, Alma used the talons she gained from the form to try and slice through the ribbons. When that failed, she used the ribbons to push off; taking flight and managing to barely manuever through the falling tangle of ribbons. As she flew through, she morphed back and jumped; rolling along the ground to break the fall and keep momentum; spinning as well to bring herself back to face Sayuri. A new blade materialized from thin air which Alma pointed at her tiring opponent. Sayuri looked at the blade and smiled, "Guess this is the last hurrah for me." The ribbons snatched the blade, preventing it from speeding towards her. She looked at Alma and said, "Alright. That's it for me." She then fainted, still smilling. As she fell, a man in a half-shihakusho colored white with a blue garment with a pendulum on it appeared and caught her. He had long raven black hair which grew to his waist and a cross necklace which adorned his neck. His sword was at his waist, but emanated with a demonic energy. He looked up at Sayuri and said, "Good job, for a 4th seat." When Can We Start Over? Verus and Alma both recognized the man, but Verus managed to speak first, and Alma didn't feel like interupting, "Its been a while Mizu." Mizu smirked and said, "Too long, and I kinda hoped to keep it that way. I still can't believe you became a captain while I still kicked around the lamoes in the 11th company. Course I could have become Captain but that berserk Kenpachi Zaraki beat me to it. But I won't concern myself with the past." Nodoka came over to retrieve Sayuri and Mizu handed her over to him. "4500 years in the Soul Society is quite an achievement. Considering I turned into a hollow before I came here." He smirked and said, "So what's new Verus?" Verus shrugged, "Oh, nothing much, just a little thing that worries me that I can't fix until it manages to do evil." Verus leaned back slightly and calmly continued, "But enough about my problems, what's up with you?" Mizu shrugged, "Just reading manga and tending wolves. I have to say that much of the manga by Kentaro Yabuki is interesting." Verus laughed, "I see." He stood up from his spot and Alma used Sonido to flash up and join him. Verus finished by saying, "Well, as much fun as this was, I think its time we get going." After Verus nodded to Nodoka in farewell, Alma told him, "Tell Sayuri that it was a good fight when she wakes up." With that the the two flashed away. Mizu sighed, "Same as always." He turned to walk away. "You are still the same, my old Captain."